(mod) Tsw 2 New Dynamic Cloud Visuals

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by londonmidland, May 12, 2021.

  1. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Hello all,

    I've replaced DTG's default dynamic cloud visuals, which in my opinion looked horrible, as they were very flat looking, as well as containing some dubious looking colours and shapes, with something which looks a lot more realistic and higher resolution.

    These clouds are fully dynamic, so it isn't a simple texture going across the sky. They will change formation (grow and fade/get smaller) as they drift across the sky. The colours of the clouds themselves are a lot more natural and will react to the lighting. So you no longer get those weird, grey/storm looking clouds.

    Please note this is only applicable for TSW 2 routes. This does not apply to older TSW 1 routes.

    Let me know what you think of them. I shall provide some screenshots down below.

    For the best results, choose a partially cloudy preset with no rain.

    Download

    TSW2_Josh_1620811859_00.jpg View attachment 55311 TSW2_Josh_1620812689_00.jpg TSW2_Josh_1620813154_00.jpg TSW2_Josh_1620813517_00.jpg
     
    Last edited: May 12, 2021
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  2. mclitke

    mclitke Well-Known Member

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    This looks very good. Now I only have to wait 6 hours until I can try it :D
     
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  3. hyperlord

    hyperlord Well-Known Member

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    WOAH this looks already great on the screenshots! I'm downloading already and looking forward to run a "spring, clear"-run tonight :)
    Oh, and ... of course THANK YOU for all the work and sharing it with us!
     
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  4. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Try one of the partially cloudy pre-sets for the full effect :)
     
  5. hyperlord

    hyperlord Well-Known Member

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    Hahaha was so excited my brain seemed to have taken a break. Yeah, cloudy since we are modding clouds here ;-)
    Btw: Again "only" 12-15 KB filesize with a huge effect

    We both share the same fate ...
     
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  6. mclitke

    mclitke Well-Known Member

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    I have a technical question, since preservation crew added the newer skybox to some older routes (LIRR and RT), will it work there as well?
     
  7. HeyYoPaulie!

    HeyYoPaulie! Well-Known Member

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    londonmidland Initial testing on partially cloudy spring day - looks much, much better and significantly enhances immersion and enjoyment. Haven't tested in storms and other seasons yet.

    Questions:
    Is this complete or would you like feedback for further improvements?
    Is it possible to add this to preserved routes?

    This has just made a significant improvement to all native TSW2 routes. Thank you and well done! :)
     
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  8. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Any route which utilises the new skybox, it should work.
     
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  9. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Hi,

    1.) This is complete as I think this is the 'best' I can get it to look.
    2.) This would be down to DTG to implement the newer skybox on preserved routes, which will then subsequently make it work.

    Thanks.
     
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  10. HeyYoPaulie!

    HeyYoPaulie! Well-Known Member

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    londonmidland
    Hi, I Just tried the new skybox using "spring rain" settings.
    - Cloud density under 100% looks a little odd, as there's a clear blue sky "hole" above the train, although it's raining.
    - Setting cloud level to 100% removes the blue sky hole.
    - The louds also look quite "light" - do clouds darken / brighten over time?

    Edit: Posted this as you were replying. As this is the final version, please disregard the feedback above.

    Thanks :)
     
  11. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Hi,

    1.) For some reason the session will always start with the clear blue hole if under a certain threshold of cloud, however it should cloud over as time progresses.
    2.) You can select spring rain and increase the cloud slider. I think by default the slider is only around half or three quarters for rain pre-sets.
    3.) I'm not too sure about this one, however I think there is some variation in cloud colour/contrast.
     
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  12. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    HeyYoPaulie! I find that by default, rain setting looks very off anyway, so I'd personally avoid choosing a rain setting. It makes everything look brighter, with or without this mod.
     
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  13. KoeleKoen

    KoeleKoen Well-Known Member

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    Amazing work, dtg their skies fall flat compared to this
     
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  14. 7orenz

    7orenz Well-Known Member

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    Together with the bare trees the best mod for TSW2 (or at least the two most impactful).
     
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  15. ulf

    ulf Member

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    Excellent mod!!!
     
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  16. JBViper

    JBViper Well-Known Member

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  17. fakenham

    fakenham Well-Known Member

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    Great work, thanks again for your superb mods.
     
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  18. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    My first question is - why can someone else do a better job than some of those existing skys. That sky is a game changer and ive seen no performance drop. I haven't tested it with many light conditions as yet but it looks good.

    My first feedback other than it looking so much better (thank you) is there is a little harshness between tree lines and the sky on Clinchfield, not sure if this can be feathered. #

    Also with the cloudy days it starts to become a grey haze, can there be any more contrast introduced to define it out a little more, shadow burn?

    Thank you again and TrainSim-Matt offer this man a place on the dev team
     
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  19. praxidike.meng

    praxidike.meng Well-Known Member

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    Whoa, just look at that! Amazing work and thanks to the creator!
     
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  20. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Hi, I’ve not experimented with it yet. Seeing as there’s a fine line with it either being too light or too dark, I don’t think I have much manoeuvre, however I shall test it out.

    TSW 2 doesn’t support different coloured clouds based on atmospheric conditions unfortunately.
     
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  21. Yerolo

    Yerolo Well-Known Member

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  22. maxipolo12

    maxipolo12 Well-Known Member

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    On which dlc works the mod ?
     
  23. kuchen0125

    kuchen0125 Active Member

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    maxipolo12 on all Routes since TSW 2, also on Rapid Transit and LIRR
     
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  24. Anthony Pecoraro

    Anthony Pecoraro Well-Known Member

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    Yes they do. They turn orange during sunrise and sunsets.
     
  25. geloxo

    geloxo Well-Known Member

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    They look amazing!

    Cheers
     
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  26. LastTrainToClarksville

    LastTrainToClarksville Well-Known Member

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    Okay, the screenshots look very good and I'm willing to try this, but cannot figure out how to install it (and, of course, how to go back to DTG's standard clouds if I wind up not liking it).
     
    Last edited: May 13, 2021
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  27. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    LastTrainToClarksville Find your steam folder on your hard drive, look for this end file and then for most train sim mods you just download and drop the PAK files in here. Train sim community website has some really good mods which add to the game massively.

    Capture.PNG
     
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  28. LastTrainToClarksville

    LastTrainToClarksville Well-Known Member

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    Thanks!!!
     
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  29. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    WARNING: make sure it's the folder named "DLC", not the folder labeled "Paks." That one is for core game stuff.
     
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  30. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Hi, it’s any route made for TSW 2 and/or preserved any route which has received a skybox update.
     
  31. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Hi, place the .pak file in your DLC folder, located at: ...steamapps\common\Train Sim World 2\WindowsNoEditor\TS2Prototype\Content\DLC

    If you want to remove a particular mod, then simply delete the applicable .pak file from the DLC folder.
     
  32. breblimator

    breblimator Guest

    WOW! Nice \o/ Thank You!
     
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  33. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Another benefit of using my mod is that it vastly improves dynamic range. In difficult lighting, such as facing directly into the sun, scenes are no longer over or under exposed, as seen below.

    TSW2_Josh_1620955305_00.jpg
     
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  34. breblimator

    breblimator Guest

    different time of the day

    TS2Prototype-Win64-Shipping 2021-05-14 04-37-27.png
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 14, 2021
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  35. praxidike.meng

    praxidike.meng Well-Known Member

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    I've already said my praise, but I have to say this mod greatly enhances the overall feeling of the routes. Could OP explain how they did these clouds, if it's not a secret? Asking purely out of curiosity!
     
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  36. byeo

    byeo Well-Known Member

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    Stunning, great work.
     
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  37. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    I still don’t get the elephant in the room in why it’s took a community member to provide a more realistic sky
     
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  38. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Hi, I simply made a new cloud ‘noise’ pattern in Paint.NET. Ironically, the smaller the size, the better the quality. I think the smaller size allows for a lot more variety in cloud shapes.

    My project size was a mere 50x50 in dimensions, whereas the default is 2046x2046 I think. I think this is why the default clouds look so big in size with little to no variation.
     
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  39. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Things like this, I’m glad to bring a more realistic experience to the community. It isn’t a burden to me, I simply do it out of passion.

    Why DTG still hasn’t improved the clouds themselves, I have no idea. I’ve had no performance issues with it either, despite the vastly superior visuals.
     
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  40. Yerolo

    Yerolo Well-Known Member

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    Fantastic work brother....your mod in my opinion simply transforms the game. It is amazing how much a realistic looking sky simply makes it look better across the board. Well done !
     
  41. byeo

    byeo Well-Known Member

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    I'm not trying to bash DTG here but if you are able to do this then how come DTG haven't done similar yet?
     
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  42. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Thanks again and I agree, it transforms the look and feel whilst playing the game. The worlds actually ‘feel’ bigger now as the clouds seem a lot higher, as well as realistically getting smaller over distance.

    The default clouds were like one big, flat cloud which killed the immersion for me.
     
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  43. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    I have no idea. Perhaps it isn’t a priority to them and/or they don’t know how to improve the look of them?
     
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  44. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    londonmidland Out of the goodness of your heart or not they at least owe you a beverage as I dare say this may tip people into buying another route. Big game changer for me.

    I have a feeling you will start getting DM's asking "can you help change this?"

    Genuinely much appreciated

    :cool:
     
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  45. Yerolo

    Yerolo Well-Known Member

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    I cannot go back to the DTG default sky after playing this mod.....I just hope future updates/Rush Hour doesn't break it, but I'm sure if it does, londonmidland will update it
     
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  46. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for your comments. I’d happily let DTG use this officially, so that all players could benefit from it, as long as the credit me :)
     
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  47. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    It shouldn’t break it. I was happy to see that a route which was released after I made this mod still retained it. So it looks like it automatically applies to all routes which utilises the newer skybox.
     
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  48. Yerolo

    Yerolo Well-Known Member

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    Do you think the skybox will change at all with UE 4.26 ? It may require an update then if so.....but fingers crossed all is ok :)
     
  49. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    DTG didn’t mention any visual upgrades coming with 4.26, so all should be okay. Even then, I’d just have to update this mod which shouldn’t be too hard.
     
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  50. maxipolo12

    maxipolo12 Well-Known Member

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    maybe beause they don't have any experience with UE4 ?
    They just make match their game with the engine and praying for that works
     
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